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Bhubaneswar: National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) chairperson, Bhagwan Lal Sahni on Tuesday came down heavily on Odisha government for not reserving 27 percent quota for the people of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the State.
The NCBC chief's comments came after he met several OBC representatives from the State.
"It is unfortunate that despite OBCs comprising 54 per cent of the total population in Odisha, the State government has not made provision for 27 per cent reservation for the community in jobs and education," said Sahni.
Sahni, who also had a meeting with Chief Secretary and DGP, criticised Odisha government over the vacant OBC chairperson post in the State.
"If OBC chairperson has not been appointed in the State, how can the rights of the OBCs be protected," questioned Sahni.
Later in the day, a delegation of the Odisha BJP met Sahni and urged him to direct the state government to take necessary steps for ensuring reservations for the OBC community.
It is pertinent to mention here that Odisha government had recently demanded the Centre for inclusion of OBC data in Census-2021. However, rejecting the proposal, the Union government denied including any separate column in the Census questionnaire to collect data on OBCs.
Meanwhile, NCBC chief's statement provided an opportunity to Congress to target Odisha government on the issue.
Former PCC president Jayadev Jena said, "Odisha government has been misleading and cheating people of backward community for the last 20 years. Naveen Patnaik-led government is not in favour of giving OBC reservation in jobs and education."
Responding to the allegations, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said, "As per Supreme Court directive, reservations cannot exceed 50 percent and such decision is in favour of some States but not for Odisha. It is surprising as to how NCBC is not aware of such fact."
